


As I Lay Dreaming

by Selysin



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Dreams, Dreamsharing, Electric Sheep, Fluff, Light Angst, Lokitty, M/M, Sheep!Jarvis
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-06
Updated: 2020-05-06
Packaged: 2021-03-02 20:54:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,266
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24043210
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Selysin/pseuds/Selysin
Summary: Tony likes to volunteer at hospitals more than your average billionaire. Call him a bleeding heart, but he is. When the mysterious John Doe he talks at during his visits appears in his dreams he has more than a few questions, especially when the two of them venture into JARVIS' dreams
Relationships: Loki/Tony Stark
Comments: 31
Kudos: 177
Collections: FrostIron





	As I Lay Dreaming

**Author's Note:**

> Shout out to buying_the_space_farm for their help with the summary.

It took some time for Asgard to realise that the second prince was absent. At first they thought that he was sulking over yet another loss in the training yard, Loki had never been graceful in defeat. Days passed with no sign of the prince, nor any indication of his usual mischief. The only thing of note that happened was a sudden, violent thunderstorm when Thor was told that he’d have to attend to his court duties rather than go hunting with his friends. 

Eventually Asgard was forced to concede that Loki was not sulking. The infamously prickly prince was incapable of remaining silent for long. Even that did not elicit concern. Loki often travelled to the other realms to study seidr on Vanaheim and Alfheim. It was well known that he could make such journeys without the aid of the Bifrost. Hopefully he’d be in a better mood when he returned though that seemed unlikely. Loki hated it when he was dragged from his studies. 

The more astute noted that Loki had made no mention of his journey beforehand. Even if he didn’t say specifically where he was going he often talked of the books that he wished to read that were only available in this library or that. Loki had made no mention of any books or artifacts before he left, in fact he’d been strangely silent. 

Perhaps he’d gone on a covert diplomatic mission. There was no one on Asgard who was better at navigating intricate diplomacy than the second prince. As much as they cursed his Silvertongue it did have its uses. Besides, the Allfather did not seem concerned by his absence and it could have been worry for his mission that led to his unusual reticence. 

Weeks passed before someone thought to ask about him. 

“Where is my brother Heimdell?” Thor asked, arriving in the Observatory with his latest kill dragging behind him. “He’s hidden himself away for long enough.” 

“He is in his chambers,” Heimdell said, frowning slightly. 

“Is something amiss?” Thor asked, Heimdell’s frown such an unusual occurrence that even the usually unobservant Thor noticed it. 

“He has not shielded himself from my gaze,” Heimdell said. “He does not appear to be doing anything other than sleeping.” 

Thor shrugged. Maybe his brother really had been wasting his time and energy on seidr again. Why else would he be sleeping in the middle of the day? He resolved to rouse his brother in time for tonight’s feast so that he could regale Loki with tales of his adventures and carried on with his day. 

* * *

Thor had become so accustomed to Loki trying to hex his face off when startled from sleep that he actually stumbled when Loki didn’t react when he stomped into his brother’s chambers. 

“Loki?” Thor called uncertainly. The silence truly was unusual. There was no reply and Thor pushed open the doors to the bedroom, once more expecting to be violently cursed. Nothing. 

“Loki?”

His brother lay on the bed, asleep as Heimdell said and yet… Loki had always been a light sleeper. Thor’s entrance ought to have awakened him. His wards ought to have awakened him. In fact, now that he thought about it, his entry into Loki’s chambers had been surprisingly easy. 

“Loki?” he repeated, worried now. “Wake up brother.” He went to shake Loki’s shoulder but was deflected by a bubble of shimmering green, golden sparks dancing across its surface. Loki didn’t stir, didn’t even flutter an eyelid, just continued to breathe with the slow and steady rhythm of deep sleep. 

Thor huffed and tried again and again to no avail. Maybe Loki had simply found himself a way to sleep without disruption but Thor couldn’t imagine his overly cautious brother ever leaving himself so unaware of his surroundings. He sent for his parents. 

* * *

Loki would not wake. Odin and Frigga had both tried to rouse him, followed by half the healer’s wing. Loki didn’t stir, his seidr keeping them all at bay and reacting violently to the more persistent. 

“What is going on?” Thor demanded, seeing his parents in quiet conversation with Eir. “What is wrong with Loki?” 

“Nothing is wrong with him my prince,” Eir said soothingly. 

“Then why does he not wake?” 

Eir grimaced. “It’s a defensive measure,” she said. “He has retreated deep into his seidr to protect himself from any who wish him harm. Once his seidr determines that it’s safe again he will wake.” 

“We are in the Royal Palace,” Thor said. “He is safe.” 

“His seidr believes otherwise,” Frigga said. “We must determine what triggered it, only then can we deal with the danger and wake him.” 

“No one would dare to threaten a prince of Asgard,” Thor said. 

“Clearly someone did,” Eir said. “For Loki’s seidr to react in such a way the danger must have been severe.” 

Frigga frowned. “We will have to check the wards, clearly something managed to penetrate the palace.” 

“I will send Loki somewhere safe,” Odin announced, raising Gungnir. “He will return when he is able.” 

Before anyone could protest or question his decision he slammed the butt of his spear into the ground and there was an explosion of green and gold light that overturned the room and hurled everyone into the walls with enough force to break bones. 

When Thor picked himself up Loki was gone. 

* * *

“Hey there Sleeping Beauty,” Tony said. Sleeping Beauty, predictably, didn’t respond. “Nothing to say?” Tony asked, settling into a chair by the hospital bed and glancing over the monitors. 

Sleeping Beauty continued to, well, sleep, not that Tony expected anything else from the comatose John Doe. 

“I just came from the children’s ward,” Tony continued. “It was good to see the kids, most of them seem to be doing better.” In fact he’d overheard more than one conversation about their miraculous recoveries. Some of them hadn’t been expected to make it. 

“We mostly just played games and read stories but there’s this one kid who’s gonna be a mad scientist when he grows up. If he grows up,” Tony swallowed, he was one of the ones who wasn’t doing so well. “Already set up an internship at SI for him.” 

He sighed. “Pepper and I broke up,” he said, relaxing into his chair. He always felt relaxed here. It was a little awkward the first time, monologuing to a comatose stranger, but tall, dark and sleeping was all alone in the world and the doctors insisted that he could hear, that his rambling was helping. Somehow. As if his innate talent to babble about anything and everything was somehow a good thing. 

“We just wanted different things I guess,” he continued, running a hand through his hair. “She wants- wanted Tony Stark, not Iron Man but they’re not… I am Iron Man you know?” 

Snow White didn’t respond but it felt as if he did know, he did understand. Tony stretched his legs out before him and put his hands behind his head. 

“It’s a little awkward right now but I’m sure we’ll work it out eventually,” he said.

“JARVIS is still looking for some record of you. You don’t seem to exist anywhere. Don’t worry though, I’ve kept you off SHIELD’s servers and I’ll help you get ID when you wake up.” It was the kind of thing that would have made Pepper frown but it was the least he could do for the guy he’d been venting to for the last two months. 

“I’ve been working on some new features for the suit.” He doubted that Snow White understood much of the following explanation, or the discussion of his work for SI, but he talked anyway. Sometimes he was almost certain Sleeping Beauty did understand and he always left brimming with new ideas while others had been discarded. Sleepy was communicating with him, somehow.

Some time later a nurse shook him awake and he looked around muzzily, rubbing his eyes and stretching. A hospital chair was a decidedly uncomfortable place to sleep for, he checked his phone, two hours, but he felt better rested than he had in weeks. Maybe he should donate some decent chairs to the hospital. 

“You don’t mind if I borrow your schtick do you?” he asked, squeezing Aurora’s hand. “I’ll be back next week yeah, tell you how the latest improvements work out.” He smiled, squeezed the guy’s hand again and left, certain that Sleeping Beauty was looking forward to his next visit just as much as he was. 

* * *

“Hey tall, dark and sleeping,” Tony said, shuffling into the room. “I know I’m early,” he said in response to the unasked question. “There was an… an incident and I did everything I could you know, it just wasn’t enough. 

“The fucking bastard threw a minivan off the bridge. I managed to get the kids out and the mum, but the dad…” He ran a hand through his hair and slumped into his chair. “Fuck it was… It reminded me of Afghanistan you know. 

“Well, I guess you don’t, I never really talk about it do I? When I refused to do what they wanted they tortured me. They held my head under water until I… The dad was still alive when I grabbed the rest of his family but I couldn’t take him as well. 

“We both knew that he wouldn’t make it. He was trapped and my suit didn’t have enough thrust to make it to the surface and back again in time. I should have done more.” 

Aurora disagreed. Tony wasn’t sure how he knew that but he did. The sleeping figure was silently telling him that it wasn’t his fault, that next time he would do better. He should stop projecting onto a comatose stranger. What did it say about him that the only people he could talk to freely were JARVIS and the bots and a man who couldn’t talk back? 

A better man would probably leave and let the guy sleep in peace. Tony settled into his chair and talked and talked and talked until he fell asleep. He didn’t dream. 

* * *

“It’s me again,” Tony said, strolling into the hospital room. “Not that it would be anyone else I guess.” Snow White was still officially John Doe and didn’t have any other visitors, just the medical staff who looked after him. 

“You remember the kid I told you about? You know, the one that’s going to take over the world with a mechanical t-rex one day? He’s gonna be discharged next week.” It was a miracle, one that the doctors were at a loss to explain when their initial predictions had had him in a grave next week. 

“Practically everyone is going to be discharged soon,” Tony smiled. “Except you of course, you’re just gonna keep sleeping aren’t you? I wish you’d wake up. I want to hear your voice. I bet it’s as pretty as you are. I want to talk to you. Well, not talk, I do that plenty already. I want to listen to you, I want to have a conversation with you. Please?” 

He imagined that Snow White was considering it. The doctors were at just as much of a loss to explain him as they were to explain their other patients’ magical recoveries. There was nothing wrong with Sleeping Beauty, he just didn’t wake. 

He dragged his chair over and took the other man’s hand before sitting down. “Have I told you how uncomfortable this chair is? Because it is. You’d think a hospital would have something more ergonomically friendly wouldn’t you? But no, they have to have the most uncomfortable furniture money can buy. I can’t believe they actually paid money for this piece of crap though. I could build something better in my sleep. Blindfolded. With my hands tied behind my back.” 

He squeezed Aurora’s hand, relaxing into the warmth that always filled his room. It never quite felt like a hospital room in here. It was too warm, too safe. 

“Platypus says that if I do that then I’ll end up spending more time here than in my own bed but that’s a lie I tell you! I sleep in my own bed sometimes. More than I sleep in some hospital. I hate hospitals. Well, this one’s okay I guess, it has you in it. Just say the word and I’ll spring you though. JARVIS can monitor your vitals, it’s not as if the doctors are doing anything.”

He yawned. He’d been on a work binge before JARVIS reminded him of his weekly volunteer time at the hospital. It was one of the few pre-Afghanistan habits that he’d kept, one that he’d been happy to keep no matter that it had started as community service. There was more to saving the world than green energy and blowing up bad guys. 

“What else? Have I told you about my new car yet? 1965 Shelby Cobra. She’s a real beauty. You should see the lines on her. I’ll have to revamp the engine of course, I can’t have a car that guzzles gas like a student drinking cheap beer but once I do that…

“I’ll take you for a ride in her when she’s done. You’ll love it. The wind in your hair, ACDC on the radio and nothing but the open road before us. I know, we’ll race. Bet I can finish her before you wake up.” His expression fell. “I really hope I lose that bet Sleepy.” He yawned again, settling a little deeper into the uncomfortable chair. He really needed to do something about that. 

“I’ll put new seats in her too. It’ll be like sitting on a cloud, way more comfortable than a shitty hospital bed. What do you say Sleeping Beauty? Sounds like a good idea doesn’t it? It’ll feel like we’re flying.”

* * *

“Personally I’ve always found flying to be overrated,” Sleeping Beauty said, only he wasn’t sleeping. He flew alongside Tony, zipping around clouds and gliding on the air currents, his inky black hair streaming out behind him. 

“You look like you’re having fun,” Tony observed, rolling over to watch him. 

Handsome sniffed. “Flying is tolerable in moderation.” 

This time Tony rolled his eyes. “What do you do for fun then?” Tony asked as they dipped below the clouds, descending to land on a cliff overlooking the ocean. 

“I read,” Smirking Beauty said, brushing a speck of imaginary lint off his clothes. The soft black and green leather and gold accents suited him a lot better than hospital scrubs. 

“What about fun with other people?” Tony asked, taking a step back so he could look the other man in the eye and chuckling when he saw that the clouds had arranged themselves into a long treatise on some sort of energy called Seidr. 

Tall, dark and handsome wrinkled his nose. “I play pranks on other people sometimes.” 

Tony smirked, “playing pranks _with_ other people is much more fun.” 

“With other people?” He sounded disbelieving. 

“Yeah, always more fun with a partner in crime,” Tony said. Getting Rhodey to go along with it was half the fun. 

“Always more likely to get caught you mean,” he replied, looking away. 

“You just haven’t found the right partner yet. Stick with me and we’ll pull off the perfect prank handsome.”

Handsome hummed non-committally but his emerald eyes were sparkling.

“It’ll be brilliant,” Tony said, “with my genius and your looks we’ll pull off the prank of the century.” 

“My looks?” he sniffed and crossed his arms. “I’ll have you know I have many talents unrelated to my hideous appearance.” 

“What? No, you’re stunning, gorgeous, breath-taking. I just wanna drown in your eyes and your hair looks so soft and oh my god, don’t even get me started on that ass.” 

Gorgeous blinked and frowned at him as if trying to dissect him, then he smirked. “What if I want to?” 

“Then I’d have to say it’s the best ass I’ve ever seen,” Tony said. “Like seriously, those tight leather pants should be illegal. How did you even get into them? More importantly, how do I get you out of them because that’s an ass that’s just begging to be worshipped.” 

“What about the rest of me?” 

Tony very deliberately ran his eyes up and down the other man’s body. “Yep, definitely begging to be worshipped,” he said. “Like every inch of you is pure perfection, you deserve to be worshipped.” 

“So do you,” Prince Smirking said, his smirk softening into a smile. “You look quite appetising. Alas this is just a dream.” 

“Who cares?” Tony asked. “I have dream sex all the time.” Well, not all the time, he wasn’t fifteen anymore and most of his dreams featured Afghanistan and drowning now but those were minor details. Miniscule, negligible, practically non-existent. 

“I care, I think I would like to be awake to fully savour our first time together.” 

“Well then you should hurry up and wake up Snow White.” 

“Snow White?” 

“Yeah, you know, like the fairy tale.” 

“I don’t,” Snow White said. A picnic blanket appeared beneath them, accompanied by a basket and a bottle of wine. “Why don’t you enlighten me?” He offered Tony a glass that hadn’t existed a second ago and gracefully lowered himself to the ground. 

“You’ll love it,” Tony said, taking the glass and sitting next to him. “Once upon a time, in a land far, far away…” 

“It wasn’t a spindle,” Snow White said when Tony finished his story. “And it wasn’t a curse.” 

“What was it then?” Tony asked, squeezing his hand. They’d drifted closer together as Tony talked until Tony’s hand covered his on the picnic blanket. Handsome had smiled when their hands met and made no effort to pull away, utterly engrossed in the story unfolding in the dreamscape around them. 

Handsome bit his lip and looked away. 

“Hey, come on,” Tony said, gently reaching out and caressing his face, turning him until he could look into uncertain emerald eyes. “No judgement here, I already told you all of my deep, dark secrets.” 

“You did,” Prince Charming said, raising his free hand to cover Tony’s, keeping it in place. “I did it,” he whispered and Tony was sure he’d be looking away again were it not for his hand holding him in place. “It was all too much and it never stopped. Thor told me not to be so sensitive and mother told me that they were just jealous or that I brought it on myself or-” He broke off, his eyes shining with tears, and Tony wrapped his arms around him, squeezing tight. 

“They never tried to stop it, Thor even joined in sometimes and I couldn’t- I did the only thing I could, I used my Seidr to retreat deep inside myself where they couldn’t hurt me anymore and then it brought me to you.” 

“Lucky me,” Tony said, stroking his hair even as the other man sniffled into his shoulder. 

“Lucky me,” he replied. 

“You gonna wake up now? I won’t ever let anyone hurt you. Not those assholes or Thor or anyone. What kind of name is Thor anyway? It’s from Norse mythology isn’t it?” God, he hoped it wasn’t Prince Smirking’s boyfriend because that would royally suck. 

“My brother’s, and yes, you would know it as Norse.” 

“What about you?” Tony asked as the other man pulled back, his eyes reddened but no longer shining with tears. 

“What about me?” he asked with an innocent smile. 

“What’s your name Mischief?” 

“Funny you should mention that,” he said, smile morphing into the now familiar smirk. “I am Loki, God of Mischief.” 

“I’m Tony Stark, AKA Iron Man,” he said, sticking out a hand. 

“I know,” Loki said but he shook his hand anyway.

“Sooo, you gonna wake up now?” 

“Soon.” 

“But we’ve got pranks to play and a gorgeous ass to worship.” 

Loki chuckled. “Indeed, alas, waking is much harder than sleeping. I’m not even sure how long it took me to speak to you like this.” 

“Months,” Tony said. “Months and months and months. It won’t take that long for you to wake up will it?” 

Loki shook his head. “It shouldn’t. I would not be able to speak with you like this unless I was already waking.” 

“Just keep talking to me yeah?” Tony said, “you’ve got a lot of catching up to do in the monologuing department.” 

“You want me to talk?” Loki asked tentatively. 

“Of course I do,” Tony said. “I love the sound of your voice, it’s so much better than I was imagining.” 

Loki raised an eyebrow. “You imagined what my voice sounds like?” 

“Well yeah, I got these feelings you know, when I was with you, telling me to do this or not do that. Even in a freakin coma you still listened to me, listening to you seemed like the least I could do really.” 

“My seidr,” Loki said. Tony was definitely going to have to get him to explain that later. “It must have sensed that you were someone safe.” 

“That’s me,” Tony said, “safe as they come.” They both burst out laughing, clutching each other for support. When they finally stopped Tony’s head rested on Loki’s shoulder and Loki had an arm looped around him. 

“Wake up soon,” Tony said, “I’m going to visit everyday until you do, so you’d better wake up or you’ll never know a moment’s peace.” 

“God of Mischief Tony, it’s not peace that I want.” 

* * *

“I’m still in the tower aren’t I?” Tony asked. He was pretty sure he was passed out on the couch in the lab which was a long way from Loki’s hospital room. 

“How should I know?” Loki asked, setting aside the book he was reading. They were in a library this time, one that looked annoyingly familiar, but Tony couldn’t place it. 

Tony shrugged. “I’m always at the hospital when we speak like this.” Loki had slipped into his dreams a few more times since the first one but it had always been when Tony was at his bedside before. Maybe something had gone wrong in his lab? He was pretty sure he’d remember an explosion but it didn’t feel like he’d recently been blown up. 

Loki pursed his lips in thought. “I’m waking,” he said, “slowly, but my mind is no longer so deeply buried, I can reach further now.” 

“You missed me,” Tony grinned. “And some dusty old library apparently.” 

Loki sniffed and glared. 

“I’ve got nothing against books,” Tony said, raising his hands. “Just, you know, we have these things called ebooks now, no more of this dead tree nonsense. I’ll set you up with a Starkpad when you wake up, download an entire library onto it. Just tell me what kind of books you want.” 

Loki bit his lip. “Do you have any books on Seidr?” 

“Maybe,” Tony said slowly. “It’s the weird psychic energy you use to get into my dreams isn’t it? I’m sure JARVIS could find something.” 

“You may also know it as magic.” 

“Magic isn’t real.” 

Loki gave him a pointed look. “I’m in your dreams Stark.” 

“That doesn’t mean magic is real, it could just be some freaky mutant ability.” 

“Freaky?” 

“I mean, fascinating, cool, awesome, amazing, magnificent, breath-taking, brilliant, fabu-” 

Loki burst out laughing. 

“Asshole,” Tony huffed, crossing his arms. 

“Is your ability to babble like a thesaurus also one of these mutant abilities?” 

“Nope, that was one hundred percent Tony Stark, just ask Rhodey bear.” 

“I shall,” Loki said, his gaze flicking around the room. 

“What? Right now?” 

“Why not?” 

“Because you’re still in a coma,” Tony pointed out. 

“I’m talking to you aren’t I?” 

“Yeah, but I’m special. Aren’t I?” he asked in a small voice. 

“Very,” Loki replied, pulling him down onto the armchair that was suddenly a lot wider and wrapping an arm around his shoulders. 

“This Rhodey bear,” Loki wrinkled his nose, “is connected to you, I can follow that connection to him. There’s another tie as well, the one you call Pepper I believe. They must be very dear to you for such strong ties to exist on the astral plane.” 

“Well yeah,” Tony said, “they’re my best friends, I don’t know where I’d be without them. Probably dead in a ditch somewhere.” 

“Then I am glad that they prevented that from happening but if you truly don’t wish to share then we can stay here, just the two of us.” 

“You’ll be awake soon,” Tony said, snuggling into Loki’s side. “You can talk to them then.” 

“Very well.” 

At Loki’s agreement Tony relaxed though he didn’t know why the thought of Loki sharing someone else’s dreams bothered him so much. It was just a dream and it wasn’t as if he and Loki were dating or anything. They just told each other everything and spent their nights together and nope, not going down that rabbithole. 

“Hey Lokes, do I have any mystical ties to anyone else?” he asked because if Tony Stark was anything it was insatiably curious. 

Loki nodded. “Three more,” he said. “Though they feel odd, I believe they lead to your children.” 

“I don’t have any children,” Tony squarked. Well, none that he knew about anyway, not unless he’d knocked someone up who hadn’t demanded child support. “And even if I did they wouldn’t be odd, they’d be the pinnacle of normal.” 

Loki raised an eyebrow. 

“Yeah, alright, no kid of mine would be normal,” he conceded. “But that’s a moot point because I don’t have any kids.” 

“What about Dum-E, U and JARVIS?” 

Tony just gaped at him until Loki gently pushed his mouth shut. “You… you can sense my kids?” 

“I believe so,” Loki said softly, “as I said, they feel different but I’ve never interacted with an AI before so I cannot be certain.” 

“Wait, are you saying we could get into JARVIS’ dreams? Does he even have dreams? I didn’t programme him to dream. Can you learn to dream? Oh my god, this is awesome.” 

“I’m your god now am I?” Loki drawled. 

“Yep, never letting you go.”

Loki rolled his eyes but didn’t object to Tony burrowing a little closer. 

“Soooo, can we do it?” 

“Do what?” 

“Visit J’s dreams?” 

“Perhaps,” Loki said after a moment. “I will have to explore this connection first and dream walking has never been a particular skill of mine.” 

“You seem pretty good at it to me,” Tony said. Real couches weren’t this comfortable. 

“You only say that because you’ve never met a proper dreamwalker,” Loki said but his cheeks were dusted in pink. 

“Have too,” Tony argued. Loki rolled his eyes. 

“I will see what I can do,” the god conceded. 

“Awesome, I’ll let J know so he can make sure his dreams are pg or something, what do AIs dream of anyway? Electric sheep?” 

“What is an electric sheep?” 

* * *

“Can we do it?” Tony asked as soon as Loki appeared in what seemed to be the bridge of the Enterprise crewed by Charlie the Unicorn. Dreams were weird. Hopefully JARVIS’ dreams would be a little less trippy and Loki would see no reason to mention this travesty. He’d never live it down if people found out just what he dreamed about. 

“I believe so,” Loki said. “The minds of your children are very different from what I am used to but I believe JARVIS’ is well developed enough to support us.” 

“But not DUM-E and U?” 

“They are too young,” Loki said, “visiting the dreams of children warps their minds and can cause permanent damage.” 

“Ok, not doing that then,” Tony said, holding his hands up. 

“Indeed.” Loki offered his arm. “Shall we?” 

Tony nodded rapidly, eager to see JARVIS’ dreams (and to get away from the unicorns in Startrek style jumpsuits, seriously, what the hell brain?). 

The world twisted around them, a kaleidoscope spinning faster and faster as a familiar cool blue swallowed everything and gradually grew more defined until they stood in a field of crackling yellow-white lightning grass. 

“Baaa.” 

“Really J?” Tony said, looking at the sheep made of blue lightning grazing the field. JARVIS hadn’t even been sure that he did dream when Tony spoke to him about maybe visiting his dreams with Loki. 

Apparently the answer was yes, he did dream and yes, he was a troll. 

“Ah,” Loki said, “these must be the infamous electric sheep.” 

“Indeed Mr Loki,” one of the sheep said, briefly looking up at them. 

“Can you imagine the amount of static electricity they must have in their coats?” Tony asked, cautiously extending one hand to pet the nearest sheep. 

“It’s a dream dearest,” Loki said, “you can imagine anything though major changes are considered impolite.” 

“I would advise against your current course of action Sir,” another of the sheep said. 

“Current,” Tony sniggered, stroking the sheep. It felt tingly and sharp somehow, almost stabby but, you know, without the screams and bloodshed. 

“You look like a dandelion,” Loki said. 

“I do not have grey hair,” Tony said, fruitlessly trying to pat down his hair. Even the hair on his arms was trying to stand on end. 

“I’m afraid you do now Sir,” JARVIS said from three different sheep at once. Actually, Tony was pretty sure the grass was talking to him as well. 

“J, do we need to have a talk about responsible drug use?” Tony asked, distracted from JARVIS’ base treachery in turning his hair snow white. As much as he admired Einstein’s work he had no desire to look like him. 

“We had that conversation three years, two months and fifteen days ago Sir,” JARVIS replied, “I have since implemented a number of protocols to ensure that you only consume the recommended amounts of any medication in your vicinity.” 

“Not what I meant J,” Tony grumbled, still trying to pat down his hair.

“Perhaps if you weren’t standing in a lightning field?” Loki suggested from his perch on a fence that Tony could have sworn wasn’t there a second ago. 

“So what else do you dream of?” Tony asked, making his way over to the fence. 

“I am unsure,” JARVIS replied, his voice seeming to come from all around and humming through Tony. “This is the first time that I have been aware of doing so and I have found that I can manipulate this world as I see fit.” 

Tony shot a glare in JARVIS’ general direction, not that he knew what that was, and conceded that his hair was a lost cause. Loki still looked like the perfect prince of course. 

“Lucid dreaming,” Loki said, seemingly addressing an electric sheep with gold eyes. Tony wondered if Lokes knew something he didn’t or if the selection of interlocutor was arbitrary. “You should attempt to give up that control one day, it can be enlightening.” 

“I will consider your suggestion Mr Loki,” JARVIS said. And yep, it was definitely the fence talking, Tony could feel J’s voice vibrating through him. “I am used to maintaining complete control over my processes, the thought of giving that up, even in a dream, is both intriguing and a little unnerving.” 

“Don’t worry J, I’ll err…” Tony frowned, what did you do to comfort your AI when he had a bad dream? Jarvis and Ana had always given him a hug, or hot chocolate if it had been particularly bad. “I’ll give you a new server farm if you have a bad dream?” he tried. He could load it with data on hugs and hot chocolate, it would kind of be the same thing. 

Loki snorted. “You could just talk to him, I believe he would find hearing your voice comforting, I do.” 

“Mr Loki is correct Sir,” JARVIS said. “I do derive great comfort from being able to hear your voice. The months you spent in Afghanistan were most unsettling.” 

“Well that’s never happening again,” Tony said firmly. 

“Of course not Sir,” JARVIS said. “I will make sure of it.” 

“J, your Skynet’s showing.”

“I apologise Sir, I will endeavour to be more circumspect in the future.” And now he was talking from the grass again, every syllable coming from a different blade in a loose circle around them. Tony was taking a long, hard look at his code when he woke up. 

“Skynet?” Loki asked. 

“I’ll show you the movie when you wake up Sleeping Beauty,” Tony said. “You’re almost there right?” 

“I believe so,” Loki said. “Your realm is home to some truly fascinating minds and I look forward to conversing with them in person.” 

“Any in particular?” Tony asked. 

“JARVIS,” Loki said at once. 

“JARVIS is- hey, what am I? Chopped liver?” 

“I can think of other things I’d rather do with you,” Loki drawled, sliding a little closer. 

“Oh, okay, we can ‘converse’ with our tongues.” 

Loki rolled his eyes. 

“Sir, might I trouble you to have this conversation elsewhere?” said a suspiciously sheep like cloud. 

“Yeah, right, sorry J,” Tony said, “Lokes, time for a change of venue?” 

“It was nice meeting you JARVIS,” Loki said, sliding to the ground. 

“Likewise Mr Loki,” JARVIS said. 

Loki took Tony’s hand and pulled him down through the electric grass and into a vast golden city with ships flying overhead. 

“What the hell?” Tony said, looking around. There really was gold everywhere. “I know my dreams aren’t this tacky.” 

“Unicorns,” Loki said. Tony scowled at him, he’d known he wouldn’t be able to live that down. 

“This is Asgard,” Loki continued, “this is where I grew up.” 

“Still tacky,” Tony said. “What’s with the- what the hell? Is he riding a cat?” 

“Yes.” 

“And you mocked my dreams.” 

“This is an unfortunately accurate facsimile of Asgard,” Loki said. “Cat steeds included, did I not mention that?” 

“No, I think I’d remember if you told me that you’d grown up riding Tiger.” 

“I preferred horses actually,” Loki said. “Or shape shifting.” 

“Huh, I had you figured for a cat person,” Tony said. “Something sleek and black that would curl up with you while you were reading.” 

“Like this?” Loki asked, giving him what Tony could only describe as a Cheshire smile as green light rippled around him and he shifted into a tiny black kitten. 

“Lokitty,” Tony cooed, picking him up and cuddling him. Loki shot him an unimpressed look but kept purring, climbing up to perch on his shoulder. 

“So how accurate is this facsimile?” Tony asked, making for the Bifrost. Dream or not he definitely wanted a closer look at that. 

“Mmmrrrroooow.” 

Tony huffed, Loki had talked to him as a snake before so a kitten should be fine, it was just a dream, but right now he had more important things to worry about. If the Asgardians could build an Einstein-Rosen bridge then he could do it better. He just had to take this one apart first. 

On his shoulder Lokitty resumed purring. 

* * *

“This is all your fault you know,” Tony said. Predictably, Sleeping Beauty said nothing. “JARVIS is putting himself in sleep mode for a couple of hours each day so he can dream.” He was keeping a dream journal and researching meanings and everything in an attempt to quantify the inexplicable or something. It was yet another part of J’s ongoing quest to understand humanity. 

“U and DUM-E are jealous, they want to dream too and it’s not like I can replicate the code, I don’t even know where it is.” He’d gone over JARVIS’ code with a fine-tooth comb and was no closer to working out how his AI could dream than he was to flying to the moon.

“I’m this close to reading some new age book on the origin of dreams,” Tony continued, holding up his hand to demonstrate. “Rhodey even threatened to buy one for me.” His friends were a little skeptical of his claim to have visited JARVIS’ dreams with a coma patient. He’d tried to point out that they’d dealt with crazier situations but Pepper had been firm in her insistence that none of the shenanigans that R&D got up to came close to talking electric sheep. Tony had been forced to concede the point. 

“Honestly, do you know how much longer it takes to analyse simulations now?” Okay, so it was only a couple of hours and JARVIS only went into sleep mode after ordering Tony to bed and the results were still there when he woke up but that was beside the point. “He’s asking for more processing power, and more servers and you know, just more.” Which Tony had already got him or was in the process of redesigning, it wasn’t as if he could say no to JARVIS.

“At least he hasn’t had any nightmares yet, J doesn’t deserve that shit.” He squeezed Loki’s hand and for the briefest instant he thought he felt Loki squeeze back. His eyes widened and darted to the monitor but it showed the same steady rhythm as always. 

“Wake up soon yeah?” Again there was an almost imperceptible squeeze, so faint that he thought he might be imagining it. “Loki, is that you?” It was amazing how even asleep Prince Charming managed to convey the impression that he was rolling his eyes. 

“Yeah, I know, stupid question. Who else would it be? I really hope you wake up soon,” Tony said. “I want to show you my world.” He’d recreated fragments of it in their shared dreams but most of the places they’d visited had been Loki’s creation or the product of some sort of shared meta-consciousness that Tony wasn’t sure he believed in. In any case it wasn’t the same as the real thing and he wanted Loki and JARVIS to meet properly where JARVIS could talk to him from the walls rather than the sheep. 

“We’ll go to the tower first so you can meet J and the bots. I’ll show you the lab and then we’ll go out for coffee. We’ll take a walk through Central Park next since you seem to like the outdoors.” Well, he liked picnics and gardens and the kind of nature that you could appreciate in comfort and safety without having to hike halfway up a mountain first which was just fine with Tony. 

“I’ll even take you to this little old bookshop I know and get you some books for your new room and then we’ll go out for dinner. Italian I think, maybe we’ll even do a Lady and the Tramp reenactment. Guess we’ll have to watch that movie too, but not on our date. No, after we’ve had desert and a couple of glasses of wine we’ll go back to the tower and curl up on the couch with a movie. Blade Runner to start with so you finally get the electric sheep references.

“In the morning I’ll make you pancakes just like Ana used to and we’ll… We’ll do everything, all the things we’ve talked about, all the things you want to see and do and experience and we’ll have so much fun that you’ll never want to sleep again.” 

“That sounds lovely,” said a soft voice. Tony jumped and looked into brilliant emerald eyes. 

“Loki! You’re awake.” 

“I’m aware,” Loki drawled. Tony burst out laughing and after a second Loki cracked and joined him. 

“You’re awake, you’re awake.” Tony launched himself out of his chair and wrapped Loki in a tight hug. 

“You were taller in our dreams,” Loki said, hugging him back.

“I was not!” Tony protested, trying to pull away. 

“The real you is much more handsome though.” 

“Of course,” Tony said, melting back into the embrace. “Wanna make an escape before the doctors mob us?” he asked, reluctantly drawing back. He was amazed that they hadn’t shown up already. 

“To your penthouse?” 

Tony nodded and in a shimmer of green the hospital vanished to be replaced with the penthouse lounge. 

“How did you do that?” Tony demanded. 

“Welcome home Sir,” JARVIS said. “Mr Loki, it is good to see you again.” 

Loki smirked. “Magic.” 

“Magic isn’t real.” 

“We just teleported.” 

“Mutants can teleport.” 

“And transfigure their clothes?” The hospital scrubs were gone, replaced with a loose green shirt and tight black jeans that left very little to Tony’s already overactive imagination. 

“It’s possible,” Tony insisted stubbornly. It wasn’t like he was an expert on the x-gene mutation. 

“The energy readings were not congruent with observed mutant activity Sir,” JARVIS said. 

“Whose side are you on J?” 

“Logic and rationality’s.” 

“I like you JARVIS,” Loki said. 

“Shush you, I’m still not convinced that this isn’t all some elaborate illusion. Maybe it’s all happening in my head, then you wouldn’t need to be able to teleport or transfigure your clothes or-” 

Tony would have continued with his brilliant argument as to why magic wasn’t real and what kind of tech (or mind whammy) Loki was using instead but he was cut off by a pair of lips pressing against his own. Loki was kissing him. 

Loki was kissing him. 

“You kissed me.” 

“I did.” 

“But-” But Loki had always refused to kiss him, he’d said that he wanted their first time to be real, not a dream. Loki had kissed him, ergo it wasn’t a dream. Ergo, “magic is real.” 

“Indeed.” Loki was definitely laughing at him, he could see it in his eyes, in the way he kept his lips pressed together, his gorgeous, smiling, kissable lips. There was only really one way he could respond to that. 

* * *

“What’s wrong Lokes?” Tony asked when the god snuggled even closer to him. 

“Nothing,” Loki replied. It was possibly the most unconvincing lie Tony had heard, especially when it was accompanied by Loki’s arms tightening around him. 

“Hey, I’m right here Bambi, I’m not going anywhere,” Tony said, stroking his hair. Loki might have felt safe enough to wake up and stay with him but he still had decades, centuries of abuse and neglect to overcome. He always seemed so surprised when Tony complimented him or that Pepper and Rhodey actually liked him. He had to be coaxed into suggesting things that he liked to do, even if it was as simple as the two of them curling up on the couch together, as if he was convinced that no one would ever say yes. 

Thunder roared and Loki tensed, pressing a little closer as if trying to burrow inside him. 

“Is it the thunder? J-” Tony began but JARVIS was way ahead of him, already lowering the blast doors over the windows and muting the distant rumbles. Loki’s death grip eased and Tony was able to draw a deep breath again. “Thanks JARVIS. 

“You’re safe,” he said to Loki, continuing to whisper sweet nothings and reassurances in his ear as he slowly relaxed. 

“Not a fan of thunder then?” Tony asked when Loki was lying limp and pliant in his lap. The storm was still raging outside but with the blast doors lowered and JARVIS playing soothing music they couldn’t hear it anymore. 

“It’s not the thunder,” Loki said. 

“Then what?” Tony asked, “afraid you’ll melt in the rain frosty?” 

Loki shook his head and lowered his eyes. “Thor.” 

“Thor?” 

“On Asgard it only storms like this when Thor is angry and when Thor’s angry…” 

“He takes it out on you,” Tony finished. Once the storm stopped he was going to build a spaceship and fly up there to give Thor the ass kicking he deserved. He’d be the first to admit that he was shit at families but no one should ever be that afraid of their big brother.

“He doesn’t mean to,” Loki said in a small voice. “He always apologises afterwards. He just, he loses control and he doesn’t think and I… I provoke him.” 

“Yeah, no, that’s bullshit,” Tony said. “It’s not your fault he hurts you.” No way in hell was Loki provoking him on purpose, he was provocative sure but he knew that there were lines you did not cross and for all his mischief Loki was far more cautious than he was. The god of chaos had an almost obsessive need to be in control. 

“If I was better-” 

“You’re already perfect,” Tony said. Loki blushed, a pleased smile spreading across his lips. 

“You’re perfect too,” he said. 

“Sir, something has just landed on the roof,” JARVIS said. 

“What? I swear to god if SHIELD is cockblocking me right now I’m going to pull their funding.” 

“It is not SHIELD Sir, it appears to be a person.” 

“Just a person?” Tony asked. “No quinjet or helicopter?” 

“He has a cape Sir.” 

“Clearly someone hasn’t seen The Incredibles.” 

“What about a hammer?” Loki asked. He’d gone still and tense again, one hand curled into a fist in Tony’s shirt. 

“He does have a hammer,” JARVIS confirmed, turning on the TV and showing them the security footage from the roof. 

“Thor,” Loki said. 

“Send the suit J,” Tony said, carefully disentangling himself from Loki. “I have some Asgardian ass to kick.” How the hell was that guy related to Loki? He’d said that his brother was blonde and muscular but Tony couldn’t see anything of Loki in the thug stomping his way across the roof. 

“Tony no-” 

“Tony yes, you’ve seen me fight Lokes, I can take the big blonde lug.” 

“I can talk to him, convince him to leave without hurting you.” 

“It’s not me I’m worried about Bambi,” Tony said, pressing a soft kiss to his forehead. “JARVIS is on standby with the other suits and I know you’ll come to my rescue if I need you.” They’d fought together a few times since Loki woke up and once they’d sorted a few minor teething issues they’d worked together flawlessly.

“If he really wants to talk to you he can use his words like a civilised person or not at all, guy needs to take a chill-pill.” 

“Sometimes I think I’m still dreaming,” Loki said. “You’re too good to be real.” 

“Perfectly real Snow White,” Tony said, giving him one final kiss before stepping into his suit. 

The suit closed around him and JARVIS raised one of the blast doors so he could step outside and shoot into the sky. It definitely wasn’t flying weather and he could feel the wind trying to drag him off course even as the rain destroyed the visibility. 

“Lock it up J,” Tony ordered, no way was he giving Point Break an easy route into Loki. 

“Blast doors closed Sir,” JARVIS reported. “Mr Loki’s heart rate is elevated but he is showing no other signs of distress.” 

“Good,” Tony said. He’d just got Loki to wake up, he didn’t want the other man’s magic deciding he was in danger and sealing his mind away again. He had Tony to protect him now. And JARVIS and Rhodey and Pepper. Honestly, if this Thor had any sense he’d turn tail and run now before Pepper arrived on the scene. Though, actually, from what he’d heard Thor had precisely no sense, possibly even negative sense? Anti-sense? Whatever, not important. What was important was that Tony was about to kick his ass. 

“Hey Blondie, get off my tower.” 

“Release my brother.” 

Tony rolled his eyes, not that Thor could see it, he really needed to find a way to make that work on the suit. 

“Loki doki is free to go wherever he wants with whoever he wants.” Tony made a show of looking around. “Guess that isn’t you Hammertime.” 

Ugh, that hammer really was big, definitely compensating for something and that cloak. Edna Mode was right, it was a flying hazard. He’d never been one for knives (or pin the tail on the donkey) but he wished he’d thought to borrow one from Loki before coming out here. Or not, he wanted Thor to leave, pinning him to the building seemed rather counter productive. Perhaps he could pin him to Hammertech instead? He’d fit right in there. 

“You’re right,” Thor said, a grin spreading across his face. “It is hammer time.” 

Tony groaned. Even Justin Hammer would be ashamed of that line. Well, actually, no he wouldn’t be because Justin Hammer had the self-awareness of a particularly small spoon but Tony expected better of his nemeses. He had standards, why did none of the cut price villians out there seem to understand that? 

He intercepted Thor’s charge with a well placed repulsor blast that did little to actually stop the blonde behemoth. He’d hoped to dent that ridiculous armour a little at least, or maybe singe his hair though it was so wet out it would be a miracle if anything burned. 

He took to the skies, raining down repulsor blasts that weren’t nearly as effective as he’d hoped. Thor dodged surprisingly well for a man of his size and then launched himself into the air with his hammer as if he somehow stood a chance in the skies with zero ability to turn. 

Thor seemed to realise that as well because he didn’t take to the skies again when he handed on the next building, instead he threw his hammer. 

“Shit.” It might look big and heavy but it moved fucking fast. Apparently magical hammers didn’t need to worry about things like aerodynamics. “We’re going to need a little more power here J,” Tony said, lining up another shot. He didn’t really want to use the unibeam on Loki’s brother, Lokes did still seem to have some affection for him, but it wasn’t like anything else was working. 

“Sir, Loki says to tell you that the hammer always returns to his hand.” 

“It’s a hammer not a boomerang,” Tony yelled, cutting the repulsors so he could drop below the hammer before it broke his back. 

Thor raised Mjolnir again but this time instead of launching it at Tony’s head or himself into the air he called the lightning. Ok, so maybe he wasn’t a complete moron, not that Tony would ever admit that outloud on pain of death, when one attack didn’t work he tried another. It wasn’t ideal in an adversary but at least it wasn’t boring. 

Also, the lightning was doing a great job at powering up his suit. 

Thor jumped, raising Mjolnir in an overhead swing while Tony raised his supercharged repulsors. 

An explosion of green light blew them both off their feet and Tony sniggered when Thor caught himself just short of tumbling off the roof. 

“Enough,” Loki said. He stood between them in full armour, his horned helm shining despite the gloom and a long spear/staff thingy held in one hand. His emerald eyes glowed and magic seethed around him. 

“Loki!” Thor grinned and bounded towards him as if Loki wasn’t radiating ‘don’t fuck with me’ vibes so strong that even Tony wanted to run away and hide. And maybe reinforce the tower. Again. There was something deeply wrong with that spear thing. Tony didn’t even want to look at it and usually he was all for dissecting cool new weapons. 

“Brother,” Loki said warily, repositioning the spear slightly so that it was in between the two of them. Tony would have slowed down and let Lokes have his personal space but Thor only seemed to speed up and Loki was forced to awkwardly hold it out of the way when Thor barrelled into him and caught him in a bear hug. 

“What the hell dude?” Tony said. “He could have taken your eye out with that.” 

“Loki would never hurt me,” Thor said with a confidence that could only be born of blind stupidity. Loki looked downright murderous. 

“Well maybe you should return the favour,” Tony snapped, striding towards them. “Are you trying to crush him?” 

“My brother is much stronger than he looks.” 

“Yeah, no, it’s not his strength I’m worried about Captain Hammer.” Actually, speaking of hammers… 

“Mr Odinson’s hammer fell off the roof when Mr Loki arrived,” JARVIS reported. “Fortunately no one else is outside, however, it did damage a street light.” 

“Of course it did,” Tony huffed. Just once he’d like if the villains paid for the clean up. Somehow he didn’t think Thor would be forthcoming with the moolah. “Thanks J, you’re a real mind-reader.” 

“I am Prince Thor of Asgard,” Thor said, his booming voice cutting through the storm. He’d let go of Loki to loom over Tony. It was a very impressive loom, Tony would give him that, but Pepper was still scarier. 

“Tony gives everyone nicknames,” Loki sighed. “Arguing with him about it achieves little, you should just be glad it’s not something worse.” 

“He should show me the respect due to a prince of Asgard,” Thor said, holding out his hand for Mjolnir. 

“You should earn it,” Tony snapped, charging his repulsors.

“Go back to Asgard Thor,” Loki said, squeezing between them. 

Thor frowned. “I came to take you home brother.” 

“I am home,” Loki said. Tony couldn’t help his pleased grin, if it wasn’t for the suit he might have done a little dance. Loki thought of him as home. 

“Asgard is your home.” 

“Home is where you feel safe,” Loki said, reaching back with one hand. Tony retracted the gauntlet so that he could interlace their fingers. “Asgard hasn’t been my home for a long time.” 

“We will find whoever attacked you,” Thor declared, hefting Mjolnir. Tony rolled his eyes and Loki snorted. 

“People have always attacked me,” Loki said. “Often right in front of you and you never noticed, you even joined them on occasion.” 

“Loki-” 

“Fists and swords are not the only weapons Thor.” 

“If you were not so sensitive-” 

“Yeah, no, that’s not the problem here,” Tony scoffed, raising the faceplate so he could look Thor in the eye. “If words weren’t a weapon then you wouldn’t care when I called you Captain Hammer or Point Break. You can’t have it both ways Blondie.” 

Thor opened his mouth but didn’t immediately reply. Finally his jaw snapped shut with a click. 

“I will do better Loki, I miss you.” 

“Perhaps you will,” Loki said, “but the others won’t and I’m tired of fighting.”

Thor frowned, as if he couldn’t imagine ever being tired of fighting but Tony thought that the storm had let up a little. 

“We can still go on adventures,” Loki said, “just the two of us, no Sif and the Idiots Three.” 

“You should not speak of them so,” Thor said. 

Loki raised an eyebrow. “They should not call me ergi.” 

“You truly do not wish to return to Asgard?” Thor asked, looking like a kicked puppy. 

“I can skywalk Thor, if I wished to return I would have already done so. This realm does not have the means to restrain me.” 

Thor sagged and seemed to look a little smaller, lost and confused but no longer trying to argue. Tony would take it as a win. 

“That is supposed to be in father’s vault,” Thor said, indicating the spear, the faintest hints of a grin reappearing on his face. 

“Is it?” Loki asked, adopting an innocent expression. “I simply can’t imagine what it’s doing here then.” 

This time it was Thor who rolled his eyes as the first rays of sunshine broke through the clouds. 

“Try not to get into too much trouble brother.” 

“You too you big oaf,” Loki said. “You can’t just smash everything with Mjolnir.” 

“You are certain you wish to stay here?” 

“I am certain I wish to stay with Anthony,” Loki said. 

“Wait, does that mean we can visit other planets?” Tony said. He was all for letting the brothers work it out on their own without excessive property damage but Loki had clearly said ‘Anthony’ and not ‘Earth’ and Loki was always painfully precise with his diction. 

“My brother is a powerful mage,” Thor said, “he has often guided me along the hidden paths between worlds.” 

Tony blinked and rounded on Loki. “Wait? Are you saying we could have been visiting alien worlds all along, like for real and not just in dreams? You’ve been holding out on me Reindeer Games.” 

“You didn’t ask,” Loki said. Tony huffed, he hadn’t realised that it was a thing he could just ask. Most people couldn’t just casually walk to alien worlds. Well, unless it was a common thing in space Viking land but Loki had given him the impression that it wasn’t. 

“Besides, I wouldn’t want to deny you your fun in replicating the Bifrost and building a spaceship.” 

“But aliens Lokes,” Tony whined. Loki just gave him an amused little smirk in reply. 

“Fine.” If the suit had allowed for it he would have crossed his arms. “See if I take you on my spaceship.” 

“I’ll just have to take you on mine then.” 

“You have a-” 

“No Loki, you cannot steal another spaceship.” Thor and Tony spoke at the same time and Loki somehow contrived to look even more innocent than he had when Thor mentioned the spear. 

“Borrow,” Loki said haughtily. “I gave it back.” 

“It was in pieces, no one even knows if it was the same ship.” 

“It’s hardly my fault if they couldn’t properly identify their own property,” Loki scoffed.

“It burned up on reentry,” Thor said. “All that was left was space dust and mangled scrap.” 

“Sooo never letting you on my spaceship,” Tony said. 

“Everything went exactly according to plan,” Loki said. “And I’ve still got a better record than you Thor.” 

Thor suddenly developed a keen interest in the ground and Tony worried that the storm that had finally let up was about to make a reappearance. 

“Right, well, it was nice of you to drop in Thor,” Tony said quickly, “do come by again sometime.” Thor lit up like a kid on Christmas and the clouds vanished, leaving them all in dazzling sunlight. Well, Tony and Thor anyway, Loki had somehow contrived to remain completely dry. 

“Maybe next time we can skip the property damage and get a drink yeah? But right now I’m sure your parents are anxious to hear how Lokes is getting on.” Well, one of them anyway. “And I have a business empire to run.” And lightning rods to install. 

Thor nodded slowly. “You are a worthy companion for my brother,” he declared. 

“Um, thanks? Is this the part where you threaten me if I break his heart?” 

“Of course not,” Thor boomed, his momentary seriousness giving way to his usual grin. “If you break his heart Loki will flay your skin from your bones and dance in your entrails. I will help Loki dispose of the body and drown his sorrows.” 

“Oh, uh, good to know,” Tony said. He could totally see the siblings thing now. Thor seized Loki in a slightly less bone crushing hug that Loki actually returned before stepping away. 

“I will visit again soon brother,” he promised. 

“I’m sure you will,” Loki muttered but he was almost smiling so Tony figured it was alright. Thor seemed to be tolerable in small doses at least, if they could just get him to use his words first he might even be decent company. 

“Hiemdell, open the Bifrost,” Thor yelled. 

Loki sighed as Thor vanished in a beam of light. “You’re going to barricade yourself in your lab for the next two days to analyse that aren’t you?” he asked. 

“Yes?” 

“I shall keep Ms Potts occupied then,” Loki said, spear and armour melting away to leave him in a green shirt and tight black jeans while Tony was stuck clanking around in his armour. 

“You’re the best Lokes,” Tony said. 

“I try,” Loki smirked, vanishing the suit with a wave of green magic and catching Tony when he suddenly found himself standing a couple of inches above the roof. 

“I’m going to get that back in working order right?”

Loki rolled his eyes. “Honestly, you destroy one borrowed spaceship... Your suit is fine Anthony, I just sent it to my pocket dimension.” 

“Your pocket dimension with your Spear of Doom?” 

“Spear of Doom?” 

Tony shrugged. “I figured that if Thor’s hammer summoned lightning then your spear thingy must do something as well.” And Loki was easily the most dramatic person he’d ever met. Spear of Doom totally fit. 

“It devours souls.” 

Yep, definitely Spear of Doom. “So souls are real too huh?” 

“Of course,” Loki replied, “what do you think allowed your children to dream?” 

“Not my code apparently,” Tony said, not that he’d been able to find anything in JARVIS’ code. Still, that was easier to think about than the fact that he'd somehow given his kids souls. 

“No,” Loki agreed. “Just you and your generous heart.” 

“Well, it’s yours now.” 

Loki blushed, smiling softly, and pulled him in for a kiss though he did cast an uncertain look at the sky when they broke apart. 

“Hey, none of that,” Tony said, cupping his face. “You’re not going back there.” 

“The Allfather-” 

“The Allfather can kiss my ass. You’re safe here Loki, always.” 

“This is real isn’t it?” Loki asked in a small voice. _I’m really safe now aren’t I?_

“It is,” Tony promised, suddenly glad that Loki had refused to let them kiss in their shared dreams because it meant he had the perfect way to prove it. “It’s real and you’re safe and I love you.”

“I love you too.” 

They kissed again and this time when they broke apart there was no fear, no uncertainty, just a content smile and the promise of mischief dancing in Loki's eyes. 


End file.
